Sea of Miranda Flowers

After circling each other for several more exchanges.

Xia Tong's gaze sharpened as he finally settled on a battle plan.

He would bear the pressure head-on and draw the enemy's attention.

The Godrick Soldier would keep to the flanks with his crossbow, waiting for an opportunity.

Unfortunately, the Crystal Barrage he had just learned was useless at the moment.

With Xia Tong's current mental state, his pitiful Focus Points could not even support three casts. Forcing it would only make him pass out on the spot from mental exhaustion.

His left hand clenched tightly around the thorn-covered Shield of the Guilty.

This shield seemed to possess some peculiar quality. Merely holding it made Xia Tong's mind feel clearer, greatly increasing his focus.

In his eyes, the formerly swift Erdtree Guardian's movements became clear and readable. Every attack now seemed to have a pattern.

After sidestepping several heavy slashes in succession, Xia Tong deliberately began widening the distance.

This created the perfect opening for the Godrick Soldier to fire.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

As expected of a seasoned veteran.

The Godrick Soldier seized the gap and fired three arrows in rapid succession, each one precisely avoiding the heavy golden plate armor.

The bolts stabbed viciously at the guardian's knee joints and gaps in its back, with one even striking directly into its throat.

Yet the results were minimal.

Or rather, against such an inhuman monster, the damage from physical piercing was almost negligible.

An ordinary flesh-and-blood body would have been spraying blood by now, but the Erdtree Guardian showed no reaction at all and continued swinging its weapon.

It seemed this monster's body had already become completely wooden inside.

If it was wood, then this would be easy.

Xia Tong decisively threw down the Lordsworn's Greatsword and pulled a torch from the side of his pack, lighting it with a whoosh.

With the lighter torch in hand, Xia Tong immediately felt much more nimble.

He raised his shield in his left hand to protect his chest, held the torch high in his right, and nimbly dodged the guardian's stiff thrust.

Before the old force had faded and the new force could form, Xia Tong poured all his remaining mental power into the Shield of the Guilty.

At that moment, he shot forward like a cannonball!

"Bang!"

A dull crash rang out. The massive Erdtree Guardian was actually knocked off balance by the impact and crashed to the ground.

Xia Tong did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately pounced, pinning its torso beneath his entire body.

He viciously pressed the blazing torch against its wooden face.

"Sizzle, sizzle—"

The tiny wooden tendrils on the guardian's body caught fire the instant they touched the flames, crackling loudly as they ignited.

The fire grew from small to large, racing across its entire body along the grain.

The Godrick Soldier followed with perfect coordination. He discarded his crossbow, drew his sword, and drove the blade deep into the arm holding the guardian's spear-sword with both hands, pinning it firmly to the ground.

The Erdtree Guardian opened its charred mouth and let out a hoarse shriek like dry wood grinding together.

But before the raging flames, struggling was futile. The fire only burned fiercer.

Moments later, only a curled, blackened corpse remained on the ground.

A trace of Rune energy drifted out and flowed into Xia Tong's body: sixty-three points.

It was not much, but it was better than nothing.

With this roadblock dealt with, Xia Tong's group re-formed their formation and continued toward higher ground.

Because the road was a continuous uphill slope, they did not travel quickly.

To prevent ambushes from suddenly bursting out of the grass along the roadside, Xia Tong did not dismiss the Godrick Soldier.

He jogged all the way, vigilantly guarding the rear.

The mountain roads of the peninsula were rugged and difficult, but after more than an hour of trekking, they finally reached the middle of the mountain range.

An open, gentle slope appeared ahead, and the road immediately became much easier to traverse.

The Pilgrimage Church at the top of the slope was drawing ever closer.

But at that moment, a cloyingly sweet stench that made one want to vomit suddenly drifted in on the fresh mountain breeze.

Xia Tong instinctively turned to look.

On the rolling slopes in the distance, a vast field of eerie giant flowers was in bloom—the Miranda Poison Flowers.

And at the center of that sea of flowers, a faintly glowing Crystal Tear floated silently.

Even from so far away, Xia Tong could clearly see its enticing glow.

It was a Faith-Knot Crystal Tear.

Xia Tong only glanced at it before immediately looking away, without the slightest trace of greed in his heart.

The reason was simple: several enormous Miranda Poison Flowers, each the size of a small hill, clustered around that Crystal Tear.

He was exhausted, his supplies were depleted, and provoking those monsters now would be no different from courting death.

More importantly, he lacked any powerful long-range fire attacks. Charging in with nothing but an ordinary torch would be suicide.

Besides, what use did a warrior with no Faith bonuses have for a Crystal Tear that only increased Faith by ten points?

Fortunately, the giant Miranda Poison Flowers were not on the main road they had to take.

Xia Tong did not dare delay. He patted Torrent's rump, urging it to pick up the pace and charge toward the mountaintop.

At the same time, Xia Tong rang the Spirit Calling Bell and recalled the Godrick Soldier, who was already struggling to keep up with the horse's speed, into the Spirit Ashes.

Yet even with such caution, the commotion Xia Tong's group made still disturbed the small Miranda Poison Flowers lurking along the road ahead.

Their buds bloomed, and dark green spore-filled poison mist instantly spread through the air.

Xia Tong inwardly cursed. Instinctively, he wanted to tear off two strips of cloth from his clothes to make crude masks.

But he was wearing standard-issue armor, and he could not tear it at all.

In his urgency, he looked at the girl in front of him.

"There's poison mist ahead released by Miranda Poison Flowers. We need to cover our mouths and noses! Miss Irina, could I borrow some cloth?"

Irina nodded lightly at his words. Without the slightest hesitation, she forcefully tore open her sleeve and ripped off two strips of cloth.

Xia Tong took them and quickly dampened them with the last of the water in his pack.

He gave one to Irina and kept the other for himself, pressing it tightly over his mouth and nose.

Fortunately, as a spirit steed, Torrent was unharmed by poison mist of this degree.

As they drew closer, Xia Tong finally got a clear look at these roadblocks.

The small Miranda Poison Flowers were only about as tall as an ordinary person's leg, and the buds at their tops were not particularly large.

But their numbers were troublesome. As if they had conspired in advance, they densely covered this unavoidable slope leading to the Pilgrimage Church.

The giant Miranda Poison Flowers farther away made Xia Tong's heart tremble even more.

They possessed enormous fleshy blossoms, standing nearly as tall as two Xia Tongs stacked on top of each other.

The poison mist around the giant flowers was so dense it seemed almost tangible, like a green curtain blocking the road completely.

Xia Tong patted Irina on the shoulder, signaling that she had to keep her mouth and nose covered no matter what.

Torrent beneath them seemed to sense the urgency as well and charged forward at full speed.

Unfortunately, this poisonous flower-covered slope was simply too long.

Even after they had passed through the blockade of dozens of poison flowers, half the journey still lay ahead.

At that moment, the entire sea of poison flowers seemed to have been enraged and erupted into turmoil.

Xia Tong's scalp tingled as a sense of danger from being targeted surged up within him.

Silver threads of magical power began continuously appearing in the surrounding air.

Whether giant or small, every Miranda Poison Flower began glowing dangerously from deep within its pistil.

Xia Tong abruptly looked up.

Countless beams of light seemed to have grown eyes, relentlessly tracking his path.

The beams formed continuously behind him, growing from thin to thick before exploding with a thunderous roar.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Explosions erupted one after another behind them, sending dirt and shredded grass flying everywhere.

Torrent displayed astonishing agility, making an extreme double jump and narrowly avoiding the deadliest chain of explosions.

But while they were airborne, the aftershock of the blasts still struck them. The two riders and horse stumbled upon landing, nearly collapsing into a heap.

"No! Torrent, faster!"

Xia Tong shouted anxiously as he grabbed a large handful of Rowa Raisins from his pack and stuffed them into the spirit steed's mouth without a care.

He keenly noticed that fine beads of cold sweat had already formed on Irina's forehead behind him, and her face had turned abnormally pale.

Even with her mouth and nose covered, trace amounts of poison were still seeping into her body as they passed through such concentrated toxic mist.

They had to get out as quickly as possible!

Torrent chewed up the raisins, burst forth with another surge of strength, and sprinted forward once more.

At last, the density of Miranda Poison Flowers around them began visibly thinning.

The life-chasing beams of light behind them also became fewer and fewer.

When fresh air and a reassuring green meadow finally appeared before them, Xia Tong felt as though he had just walked out of hell.

As the terrain gradually flattened, Xia Tong looked at the clear sky in the distance and the peaceful alpine meadow nearby, knowing they were finally safe.

He hurriedly nudged Irina in front of him, only to find the girl limp against his chest, completely unresponsive.